"Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" Challenge Denied

Censorship of children's books is in the news again as a result of a parent's challenging the use of the Mildred D. Taylor's "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry," a Newbery Medal winner. The novel is about about prejudice and family in 1930s Mississippi and is written from the perspective of a nine-year-old African American girl. According to an article in the Orlando Sentinel, Seminole County, Florida parent Debra Drake "says a middle-school class is an inappropriate place to discuss racial issues because the students are too young to understand the material." The book is presently required reading for middle schoolers in the county. After consideration, the school board denied Drake's request that classroom use of the book be restricted.

For more information about challenges and censorship, read my article "Censorship and Challenged Children's Books" and take a look at all of the resources in my Censorship directory.

Share your feelings about censoring your children's books by voting in my poll and joining the discussion on the About Children's Books Forum. recall recall